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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27508231">One Link, Two Link, Red Link, Blue Link</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vague_Potato/pseuds/Vague_Potato'>Vague_Potato</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 03:41:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,223</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27508231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vague_Potato/pseuds/Vague_Potato</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A story in which Four is the last Link to join the gang, only he doesn't really want to go. His solution, send one of the Colors instead.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>91</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Four-centric fics</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Meeting the Chain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>As always, I'm still working on my main story, but I just needed a break to write something else. This short should only be six chapters at the most. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">The sound of the front door’s bell could be heard over the pounding of metal in the forge. Green put down the shield that he had been working on before the interruption.</p>
<p class="p1">“I’ll get it,” He told his brothers. “You can stay here and keep working.”</p>
<p class="p1">Gently placing the half-finished project aside and away from any dangers, Green removed his thick gloves and apron, hanging them by the entrance.</p>
<p class="p1">Pushing open the heavy door, he made his way to where the shop aspect of their forge was run.</p>
<p class="p1">When he got there, Green had to take a second and make sure that he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing.</p>
<p class="p1">Eight heavily armed young men and boys were mulling around the room, observing wares and quietly talking amongst themselves.</p>
<p class="p1">Clearing his throat, Green asked loudly:</p>
<p class="p1">“Can I help you with something?”</p>
<p class="p1">The person closest to him, a guy wearing a long and rather impractical blue scarf, turned quickly, clearly trying to play off the fact that he had almost dropped the spear he was holding.</p>
<p class="p1">“Um, yes actually,” Scarf Man said. “We’re looking for Link. We were told that he works here.”</p>
<p class="p1">Green actually had to scoff at that. There were very few people who didn’t know who he and his brothers were. At this point, they hadn’t gone by Link in over a year.</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re talking to him.” He informed the man.</p>
<p class="p1">By now, another of the group members had joined them. He was the tallest of them with a large scar running through the right side of his, keeping his eye shut. The guy was also sporting a rather well-made suit of armor if Green had to admit.</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re the hero?” The scarred man asked with a hint of disgust in his voice.</p>
<p class="p1">Um, excuse him. What was that supposed to mean?</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes,” Green replied cooly. “You got a problem with that?”</p>
<p class="p1">The first man, shot his companion a look.</p>
<p class="p1">“Time,” He heard him mutter. “We went over this with Wind. Just because they’re young. Doesn’t mean that they aren’t any less capable.”</p>
<p class="p1">While saying all of this, Scarf Man and pulled Armor Man over to the side and they were talking quietly, but not quietly enough.</p>
<p class="p1">“I don’t doubt that he’s capable, it’s that Hylia chose yet another kid hero for her quests.”</p>
<p class="p1">Another? Green didn’t have time to process his very well because he was brought back to reality by a tap on his shoulder.</p>
<p class="p1">Turning, he was met with an overly expressive face.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hi! I’m Wind, nice to meet you,” The kid told him. “It’s so good to finally have another kid on the team. I thought that I was going to be the only one, but then we found you!”</p>
<p class="p1">Kid? How old did they all think that he was? I mean, Green knew that he was short for his age, but to still be considered a kid? That was stretching it.</p>
<p class="p1">He was just about to tell Wind this when he heard a crash coming from the far side of the room.</p>
<p class="p1">Somehow, one of the guys wearing a long black traveling cloak had managed to knock over an entire wall of weapons. The man was lucky that it was Green who had answered the bell because if it was Blue right now, there would be nothing stopping him from unloading on these people.</p>
<p class="p1">Green let out a long sigh and stared into a spot on the ceiling. He already had to deal with three brothers, figures that stuff like this would happen too.</p>
<p class="p1">“Could everyone please just stop touching things?” Came a new voice. “I think that we’re stressing him out.”</p>
<p class="p1">Any weapons that had previously been held, were put gently back to where they were supposed to be, thank the goddesses for that.</p>
<p class="p1">“Can I please get something straight?” Asked Green. “What did he,” He gestured to, Time was it, “mean when he said another hero? The only other hero that I can think of was the Chosen Hero and he’s only from legends.”</p>
<p class="p1">“That would be me actually,” Said the voice from earlier. It came from a guy wearing a white cape, of sorts. He looked rather embarrassed by this fact. “I’m Hylia’s Chosen Hero, also known as the Hero of the Skies. The reason that I’m here right now, along with these others, is because we were all sucked into another quest across time. I know that this probably sounds crazy, but I can prove it to you.”</p>
<p class="p1">Reaching over his shoulder, he pulled the nicest sword that Green had ever seen from its sheath and held it out. Taking it carefully, he inspected it with the trained eye of a smith.</p>
<p class="p1">“I don’t understand, there’s nothing wrong with it, so why did you give it to me? This sword is in the best condition that I’ve ever seen,” Green asked, very confused.</p>
<p class="p1">Usually, when he was handed a weapon, it was because someone wanted him to fix it. The only other sword that could try to compete with this blade was the Four Sword, but even that looked dull in comparison.</p>
<p class="p1">Looking away from the sword, Green was met with seven stares that matched his confusion and one thoughtful one.</p>
<p class="p1">Almost immediately after handing back the blade, he was met with cries of:</p>
<p class="p1">“What?!”</p>
<p class="p1">“Have you seriously never heard of the Master Sword?”</p>
<p class="p1">“No way!”</p>
<p class="p1">“How the fuck-“</p>
<p class="p1">The last one was cut off by the sharp crack of lightning in the air. Green flinched but was surprised to see that the bolt had been contained to the hands of one of the members, one of the younger ones who also happened to be the only one with brown hair.</p>
<p class="p1">“Enough, all of you,” The guy cried out. “This Link’s obviously like me. He probably doesn’t have a Master Sword in his time period.”</p>
<p class="p1">Ridding himself of the lightning, the new guy held out a hand for Green to shake.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hi, my name’s Link, but you can call me Hyrule to avoid confusion,” The guy, Hyrule, said.</p>
<p class="p1">He didn’t even have time to process the odd choice in nickname because he was busy staring at the mark on the back of the kid’s hand. Green grabbed the hand to shake it but instead tightened his grip and flipped the hand. The red outline of the Triforce seemed to glow against the dark material of Hyrule’s bracers.</p>
<p class="p1">“That should be impossible,” Green breathed out.</p>
<p class="p1">Hyrule gave him a light chuckle.</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh, you noticed did you? I was hoping that that would work. I don’t just show the Triforce to anyone you know.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Believe us now?” Asked the guy with the scarf from earlier. “We’re all reincarnations of the same spirit, the Hero’s spirit to be exact.”</p>
<p class="p1">“We’re also going by our Hero’s Titles to keep things from getting too confusing,” Added a man with pink hair. A bold choice if Green was being honest. “You can call me Legend.”</p>
<p class="p1">He thought back to some of the odd names from earlier. Time and Wind no longer seemed quite so weird.</p>
<p class="p1">The heroes of past and future ages went around the room introducing themselves. Green learned that Scarf Man was actually Warriors and that the guy with the cape who had knocked over all of the weapons was Wild. The guy who had given him the sword was Sky and the man standing at the back of the room who had yet to say anything, was Twilight.</p>
<p class="p1">“Do you believe us now?” Queried Warriors.</p>
<p class="p1">Green nodded. There was just one problem left:</p>
<p class="p1">“Do I have to come with you or do I not have a choice?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Sorry kid, but I don’t think that you have a choice.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Alright, then give me a few minutes to gather my things, I’ll meet you all out front.”</p>
<p class="p1">The group of Links respected his wishes and made their way out of the forge, while Green hurried back to his brothers.</p>
<p class="p1">He slammed open the door once he was sure that their abrupt guests were gone.</p>
<p class="p1">“Guys!” He yelled, almost bowling over Vio in his hurry. He was lucky that the guy wasn’t holding any hot metal as the purple hero put a hand on Green’s shoulder to steady him.</p>
<p class="p1">He didn’t even wait for them to ask what he was doing before he blurted out everything that he had learned in the past five minutes.</p>
<p class="p1">Once he was done, the only sound that Green could hear was the blood rushing in his ears and the roar of the fires from the forge.</p>
<p class="p1">“That is pretty concerning,” Admitted Red. “Are you sure that we have to go with them? I mean, we have to stay here and take care of the forge for Grandpa, not to mention who would help the Minish while we’re gone?”</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Green told his brother.</p>
<p class="p1">“What if we didn’t go,” Said Vio slowly.</p>
<p class="p1">“Were you not listening to him? Green clearly stated that we have no choice,” Grumped Blue, clearly frustrated with their newest divine problem.</p>
<p class="p1">“If you would have let me finish, I could have told you the rest of my plan,” Vio spat back irritated. “Like I was saying, what if we didn’t go. Green never told the other heroes about Link’s ability to split, so what if only what of us went with them and the other three stayed here.”</p>
<p class="p1">It was quiet yet again. Green met three pairs of identical blue eyes and grinned. As per usual, Vio had come up with a wonderful plan again.</p>
<p class="p1">“That could work,” Admitted Red. “But who’s going first. We can switch out when they come back.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I can go,” Green told them. “I already met the group, so I’ll go first.”</p>
<p class="p1">None of his brothers tried to argue with him, so Green took it that they were okay with that. Suddenly he realized something.</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh shit! I was supposed to meet them out front once I got my stuff together. I haven’t packed anything yet!”</p>
<p class="p1">That seemed to snap all of the Colors out of their daze as they scrambled to take care of the forge and pack at the same time.</p>
<p class="p1">Blue and Vio were left downstairs to take care of packing weapons and cleaning up the forge for the day. Green and Red went upstairs to pack everything else that he might need for his latest quest.</p>
<p class="p1">In sync as always, the boys were done in record time and Green grabbed the pack that they had gotten together and his Four Sword. He was about to head out when Red tapped his shoulder.</p>
<p class="p1">“I almost forgot to give this to you,” His brother told him. “I had made it for if we ever had to be Link again, but I think we should wear it so that we won’t fight over clothes the entire time.”</p>
<p class="p1">In Red’s hands was a multicolored piece of fabric that when unfolded revealed a tunic with each corner their respective color.</p>
<p class="p1">“You even put a little Ezlo on there,” Pointed out Blue, showing the others a small tassel on the hood that was indeed in the shape of their first companion.</p>
<p class="p1">Green quickly changed shirts and once again grabbed his stuff.</p>
<p class="p1">“I’ll see you when I see you,” He told the other Colors. “Take care of everyone while I’m gone.”</p>
<p class="p1">Giving everyone a final hug, Green left the forge, making his way through the mess of the store, and finally out front to where the group was waiting for him. Their heads turned at the sound of the door’s bell.</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m ready to go,” Green informed the other Links. “And you can call me Four.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Green and numerous hate crimes against food</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wild and Green get into a bit of a food fight. Legend and Hyrule are more than happy to commentate.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is just pure nonsense, so have fun with it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p2">Legend watched as the new guy calmly walked over to where Wild was cooking dinner and smacked the vegetable that he had been about to throw into the stew, out of his hands.</p>
<p class="p2">The Veteran openly smirked and settled down against a log to watch the drama unfold.</p>
<p class="p2">“What the hell man!” Exclaimed the Champion as he gathered the fallen, what even was that? Who cared, it was green. Legend certainly didn’t care.</p>
<p class="p2">Four had been relatively chill with the group so far, occasionally getting overly worried when one of them did something stupid, but for the most part, he was almost boring to be around. This was a fantastic break of character from him.</p>
<p class="p2">“Do not poison us with those monstrosities!” Four yelled back.</p>
<p class="p2">The kid then attempted to re-smack the food from Wild’s hands.</p>
<p class="p2">“It’s just peppers, I’m not poisoning anyone!” He protested, darting around to try to get to the other side of the cooking pot. Four followed and cut between their cook and whatever meal he was making.</p>
<p class="p2">“Hey, what’s going on?” Asked Hyrule, standing next to Legend.</p>
<p class="p2">“Four thinks that Wild’s trying to poison us with vegetables,” He informed the medic.</p>
<p class="p2">Patting the ground next to him, because Legend was not at all soft, he was just concerned that ‘Rule would get tired standing for too long, the Veteran gestured for him to take a seat.</p>
<p class="p2">They were silent for a moment as they watched the squabble become a full-on food fight.</p>
<p class="p2">Legend was glad that the others weren’t at camp right now since he was sure that Time would have put a stop to it already. Actually, the Old Man would most likely have joined them, making Twilight stressed and Sky worried. Legend knew that deep down, Time was a fucking gremlin just like the rest of them.</p>
<p class="p2">“I should be helping to end this, but it’s actually kind of funny,” Hyrule admitted.</p>
<p class="p2">Legend just gave him a pat on the shoulder and said:</p>
<p class="p2">“Kid, if I’m not helping to end something, then it’s because I benefit more from letting it play out. In this case, we get free entertainment, so enjoy.”</p>
<p class="p2">Right as he finished saying this, Wild got hit in the face with a tomato, the bright contents of the produce going everywhere.</p>
<p class="p2">“Oh, that’s a nasty hit delivered by our resident Smithy using a vegetable to the face,” Narrated Hyrule.</p>
<p class="p2">“A tomato’s a fruit bud,” Legend told him.</p>
<p class="p2">“Is this another one of those things that I should know about, like the Master Sword or maps?”</p>
<p class="p2">“Yes, definitely. I’m horrified that you don’t already know that.”</p>
<p class="p2">There was no way in hell that Legend was going to let ‘Rule know that people actually had no idea what they were. In his opinion, tomatoes were fruits and he was definitely not using the kid’s lack of knowledge to his advantage. Not at all.</p>
<p class="p2">Back at the cooking pot, Four took a moment to look proud of himself, before the form of Wild suddenly blurred. Faster than even he could register, the Smithy was splattered with the contents of most of the rotten food that the Champion had found in his slate.</p>
<p class="p2">Legend couldn’t stop his uncontrollable wheezing now.</p>
<p class="p2">“And Wild fucking flurry rushes Four with dubious food,” He managed to get out.</p>
<p class="p2">Hyrule was laughing now too and adding in his own comments.</p>
<p class="p2">“He did indeed make our resident Smith look like one of my Zoras from the nastiest of swamps.”</p>
<p class="p2">More and more food was picked up off the ground and thrown between Wild and Four. The commentating went on too.</p>
<p class="p2">“Oof, that’s a low blow from Four, aiming to take out Wild’s knees.”</p>
<p class="p2">“Nice save from the Champion, using the pot lid as a shield.”</p>
<p class="p2">“In a stunning turn of events, Four has gotten Wild to break the pot lid.”</p>
<p class="p2">“Four is now aiming to- Oh shit! The cook is bringing out the Goron Spice.”</p>
<p class="p2">“Looks like things are getting spicy.”</p>
<p class="p2">Legend had to stop there and squint at Hyrule, the latter oblivious to what he had just done. The audacity of the kid to make puns.</p>
<p class="p2">It didn’t matter though because a second later, an ear of corn came rolling to a stop by his foot. Legend held it out to ‘Rule.</p>
<p class="p2">“Popcorn?” He asked.</p>
<p class="p2">Hyrule grinned and skewered the vegetable onto the end of his sword. Using fire, the sound of popping could be heard seconds later before the corn literally exploded into kernels of, only slightly burnt, popcorn.</p>
<p class="p2">“Thanks, kid,” The veteran said with his mouth full of food, using his tunic to hold the rest of it.</p>
<p class="p2">Looking back, Four had managed to get the peppers from Wild and was running away from their campsite, cackling like a madman. He certainly looked like one too. The amount of food caked onto the kid was impressive and the only things that picked him out from being a monster was the bright green glow of the gem on his sword.</p>
<p class="p2">Wild wasn’t faring much better with only the blue from his Sheikah Slate distinguishing him.</p>
<p class="p2">“Get back here!” The Champion yelled, brandishing his soup ladle at Four. Four for his part, managed to tap his boots together, while still running, causing little wings to sprout from the sides. Legend knew from experience that those were Pegasus Boots. He actually knew a lot of things from experience, but that wasn’t the point.</p>
<p class="p2">The point was that Four was now gone, taking his hated vegetables with him and their only cook was in hot pursuit.</p>
<p class="p2">Legend sighed and pulled his hat over his eyes and brushed the remaining popcorn off of himself. Might as well take a nap while the camp was actually quiet.</p>
<p class="p2">Sometime later, he was woken by someone nudging his foot. Removing his hat, Legend looked up at- he had no idea. It wasn’t the fact that he was looking at something unknown to him, but whatever it was that Hyrule was holding had been quite literally blurred out. Its colors of puke green and monster gut yellow had been pixelated. Whatever he was looking at somehow defied all laws of nature, before suddenly the smell hit him.</p>
<p class="p2">Attempting not to puke, Legend took a huge step away from Hyrule and simply said:</p>
<p class="p2">“I’ve never seen anything like it!”</p>
<p class="p2">“I know right!” Came a voice from behind the Veteran. There stood none other than Four. Wild was nowhere to be seen. The kid was also clean as if nothing had happened. A small piece of food stuck in his hair was the only thing that gave away what had really gone down.</p>
<p class="p2">Before Legend could ask how the fucking hell this had happened, the others chose just then to arrive back at camp.</p>
<p class="p2">“What the- what happened here?” Twilight asked, incredibly confused.</p>
<p class="p2">“Hyrule made dinner,” Four told them.</p>
<p class="p2">They all looked in horror at the camp, or more specifically where the camp used to be. Now it was just a barren space covered in at least a good inch of food gone bad.</p>
<p class="p2">“We were here when Wild had to go get something from the woods. He was probably exploring, so Hyrule decided to help us out so that we would have something to eat tonight,” Continued the Smith. “Legend and I were here the entire time, you could ask him, but he was taking a nap.”</p>
<p class="p2">All eyes turned to Legend.</p>
<p class="p2">“Legend,” Started Time, giving him his best disappointed glare, “You were supposed to watch over camp while we were gone.”</p>
<p class="p2">“Yeah Legend. Something really bad could have happened and not to mention Wild went missing too.” Twilight added.</p>
<p class="p2">Before Legend could even try to protest what had really happened, a mess of garbage, because that was really the best way to describe it, appeared behind Four.</p>
<p class="p2">“I’m going to kill you Smithy!” Wild yelled.</p>
<p class="p2">He had not cleaned himself off but had rather used his time while the Veteran was sleeping to acquire a flaming twig.</p>
<p class="p2">Four screamed and tried to behind the closest teammate for support, but Legend was faster. Grabbing the shit that was supposed to be food from Hyrule’s hands, he hurled it at their smallest member. It hit him in the face, the smell and close proximity causing Four to go unconscious almost immediately.</p>
<p class="p2">“There, all problems solved,” Legend informed them. “Wild’s back, everyone got their revenge on Four, and Hyrule’s hate crimes against food were taken care of.”</p>
<p class="p2">The other Links, minus Four, all looked like they didn’t believe him. At some point, Wild’s branch had managed to light a tree on fire and somewhere in the background, a large flaming branch fell in the middle of the camp.</p>
<p class="p2">“Yep, all problems solved,” Legend restated.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Blue attempts to fist fight a god</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Blue is done with portal hopping. He just wants a break, but the Goddess won't let him rest for long.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not as good as I would have liked it to turn out, but here's Blue's chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">It was safe to say that after visiting Four’s Hyrule, something had happened to make the Smithy a little bit moodier than usual. He had told them that he needed to grab something back at his forge and they should all just go on ahead to the castle to inform his Princess Zelda, also known as Dot, about what was going on.</p><p class="p1">When the kid had returned, he seemed a little bit off, but Sky figured that maybe he had had a fight with his grandpa or something. The Chosen Hero knew that they lived together, so it was possible, only now that they were several more weeks into their adventure, the possibility of that being the case became less and less.</p><p class="p1">“I swear to Hylia, is that another fucking portal!” Exclaimed said smith.</p><p class="p1">Sky groaned, he really hated them. He wasn’t affected by them as much as some of the others, but he would rather avoid the nauseating feeling he got when going through one if he could.</p><p class="p1">“Didn’t we just go through one a couple of days ago?” Asked Wind. They were currently in his Hyrule, staying with his grandma and little sister.</p><p class="p1">“Exactly three days, seven hours, twenty-two minutes, six seconds and counting,” Time informed the group.</p><p class="p1">Sky knew that they had nicknamed him Time, but the Old Man really didn’t have to brag about his perfect internal clock every chance that he could. Even now looking at him, if you knew how to read him, Time looked smug.</p><p class="p1">“Well, I guess we head out then,” Warriors said. “All of our stuff is packed anyways.”</p><p class="p1">They made their way to the writhing black and purple void, the pull already starting to drag them in.</p><p class="p1">“Headcount!” Yelled out Twilight.</p><p class="p1">“Time…” “Here.”</p><p class="p1">“Sky…” Here.”</p><p class="p1">“Legend…” "I didn’t fucking go anywhere.” “Thank you Legend.”</p><p class="p1">“Wind.” “Also still here.”</p><p class="p1">“Four…” “…” “Has anyone seen Four?”</p><p class="p1">Sky looked around. Their smallest member was still by Wind’s house with his arms crossed and a determined look on his face.</p><p class="p1">“Come on Four, it’s time to go!” Sky shouted to him.</p><p class="p1">“Nope!” Was their reply. “I’m staying right fucking here and if you guys want to join me, then go for it!”</p><p class="p1">“I don’t really think that we have a choice, Smithy!”</p><p class="p1">“Well, too bad then, I guess that Hylia will have to fight me herself to get me into that portal.”</p><p class="p1">Sky sighed. He knew that it was never a good idea to invoke divine intervention. He had seen first hand what Sun could do as the Goddess and there was no stopping her when she put her mind to something.</p><p class="p1">“You might want to-“ A tendril of darkness came from the portal, aiming for Four. “Try apologizing.” Finished Sky lamely.</p><p class="p1">Four grabbed his sword, the blue gem on the pommel glowing brightly. With a mighty swing, he cleaved the tendril in two, the severed part fading into the ground. More came after it, each just as easily finished off.</p><p class="p1">“Don’t you get the hint!? I. Don’t. Want. To. Fucking. Go. Yet.” Four said as he hacked at the magic trying to pull him away.</p><p class="p1">“Should we help him?” Asked Hyrule.</p><p class="p1">“No,” Time told them. “Let him learn on his own. They’ll get him soon enough.”</p><p class="p1">They did not however get Four soon enough. The tendrils had resorted to attacking two at a time, but the smith just brought out his shield and began a pattern of parrying and slashing.</p><p class="p1">“Just give up!”</p><p class="p1">A loud shrieking noise came from the void in response.</p><p class="p1">Four screamed back even louder.</p><p class="p1">The tendrils retreated.</p><p class="p1">“Yeah! That’s right, run away and leave me alone!”</p><p class="p1">“Did- did that actually work?” Twilight wondered out loud.</p><p class="p1">He was answered a moment later when a giant Skulltula came scuttling out of the void.</p><p class="p1">“No, no it did not,” Wild answered his mentor in the most lifeless voice that Sky had ever heard come from him.</p><p class="p1">“What! Not my fucking house! If anything happens to it, I blame it solely on you Four!”</p><p class="p1">Four for his part didn’t look phased at the prospect of having to fight a giant spider.</p><p class="p1">“It’ll be fine,” He called over to the group. “I’ve done this before. I just need to take out a leg,” He did so, ducking under an attack from the pinchers to cut off a leg with his sword. “And then I need to knock it off balance,” Four demonstrated again, using a hammer this time to slam the Skulltula onto it’s back. “And then Red can finish it off!”</p><p class="p1">Sky had several questions now, but most importantly:</p><p class="p1">“Who’s Red?”</p><p class="p1">Four’s eyes widened almost comically in surprise.</p><p class="p1">“Did I- did I say Red?” He stammered. “I uh, I’m pretty sure that I said uh, Reg. Yeah, that’s it! Reg! Like Reginald. He’s another knight that I work with back at the castle.”</p><p class="p1">Four spun to face them and put his hands on his hips, seemingly pretty happy with his confusing explanation.</p><p class="p1">“Okay fine, but I’m pretty sure that Reginald isn’t here right now Smithy!” Legend called back. “But, that spider sure as hell is!”</p><p class="p1">Their resident smith spun, the smile falling from his face faster than the Skulltula's webs aiming for his legs.</p><p class="p1">With a yelp, Four was yanked by the sticky string surrounding his lower body to the giant spider. He tried to hack at the webs, but it only resulted in his sword getting stuck in the fibers.</p><p class="p1">“Give up yet!” Teased Time.</p><p class="p1">“Nope, never!” The Skulltula dragged him closer to the void. “I still have one more trick left!”</p><p class="p1">Putting on a pair of bracelets from his pack, which was luckily above where the webs wrapped around him, Four grabbed onto the web and pulled.</p><p class="p1">The spider was jerked backward by the tug, before attempting to pull the tiny hero forward again.</p><p class="p1">Four gave another heave with one hand and used his other to tear at the webs, freeing himself.</p><p class="p1">“Oh come on! You have power bracelets too!” Wild complained. “How come everyone except for me gets a pair of those!”</p><p class="p1">Sky simply gave their cook a pat on the back and went back to watching the impromptu tug-of-war game.</p><p class="p1">Four had managed to gain his footing and had gotten the spider closer to him. Running around its legs and wrapping the string that he had been holding around them, the Skulltula was stuck, tottering back and forth, before crashing onto its side. The smith then proceeded to pick it up and lift it over his head.</p><p class="p1">His small size was covered by the spider’s legs, so all that the Chosen Hero could see was the creature’s body sliding across the ground on its side like one of the boats that Sky had seen Wind show them.</p><p class="p1">With a mighty heave and a battle cry, Four hurled the giant spider through the portal that it had come from.</p><p class="p1">Brushing off his hands and resheathing his sword, he screamed at the clouds:</p><p class="p1">“Ha! Take that Hylia! You can’t make me do fucking anyth-hngrgh.” The rest of that was cut off as he tripped over a rock and went sprawling face-first into the portal.</p><p class="p1">“He made it closer than any of us,” Sighed Time dejectedly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Red and a family trip to Death Mountain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Red is too kind for his own good and he really likes anything that has a cute face. Cue the pain and frustration that it brings the rest of the Chain.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the late update, but school was super busy lately. Luckily, it eased off for vacation, so I'm going to try to finish this fic while I have time.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">This… this was fine. They could deal with this. There was nothing that they couldn’t handle, I mean they were Hylia’s chosen heroes after all.</p><p class="p1">Right?</p><p class="p1">Snap! A flaming branch snagged the edge of Warriors’ tunic and he hurried to put it out.</p><p class="p1">Oh, who was he kidding? They were all miserable right now and hoping that they wouldn’t accidentally light themselves on fire.</p><p class="p1">Up ahead on the path, Legend almost got roasted alive by a spurt of fire that shot out of the ground right where he was about to put his foot. The string of curses that came from the Veteran was quite impressive and it seemed that some of them were even in different languages.</p><p class="p1">The latest portal had dropped them all onto a Death Mountain. The group wasn’t sure who’s it was yet, but they could tell from the fiery inferno that kept trying to kill them every couple of seconds, that it was certainly <em>Death</em> Mountain. Emphasis on the death part.</p><p class="p1">Warriors had already put as many layers as he could in his bag, but he was still wasn’t doing too well with the heat. He envied the others who had fireproof items like Time and Wild, the latter of which had also handed out fireproof elixirs to everyone to keep them from spontaneously combusting. How cheerful.</p><p class="p1">“So,” Came a joyful voice from his right. “What do you think that Wild’s going to make for dinner tonight?”</p><p class="p1">The Captain looked over and saw Four walking beside him.</p><p class="p1">Actually, no. The Smithy was skipping, Goddess-damn skipping, through this hellscape.</p><p class="p1">The Captain took a second for his overheated brain to catch up with what he was seeing and that no, he was not seeing things.</p><p class="p1">“I dunno. Something cold hopefully,” He grouched.</p><p class="p1">Wars watched as Four then proceeded to pull his hood up over his head, the metal tassel at the end gleaming in the firelight.</p><p class="p1">“You- you’re not hot? At all?”</p><p class="p1">Four merely gave him a shrug of the shoulders in response.</p><p class="p1">“I’m used to working in a forge all day,” He informed the Captain. “Also, I have a really high heat tolerance.”</p><p class="p1">“Okay, but you still didn’t need to put your hood up!”</p><p class="p1">Another shrug.</p><p class="p1">“It’s comfy and I-“ The Smithy let out a squeal of happiness, his eyes going comically wide. “What is that!?”</p><p class="p1">The rest of the party spun, fumbling to get out weapons and look at what Four was pointing to. The cause of the squeal was none other than a chuchu. The monster’s gooey body was covered in faint red spots and its eyes looked like they were going in two different directions.</p><p class="p1">“It’s from my Hyrule,” Wild told them. “They’re normally pushovers, but it could be infected with black blood, so stay on your guard. Oh, and watch out for the explosion they create when killed. We don’t need any lava burns today.”</p><p class="p1">“Okay, we should be able to take it if we- what the fuck are you doing Four!?” Screamed Legend.</p><p class="p1">The said Smithy was currently scrambling over a rock to get closer to the chuchu and putting on a pair of thick gloves that they had seen him use when in the forge.</p><p class="p1">“I’m going to say hi!” He told them cheerfully.</p><p class="p1">Warriors wasn’t sure when Four had started being this friendly, but his brain was slowly turning into soup right now, so if he started hallucinating, then it didn’t really matter. Forgetting to use common sense, the Captain started running after their smallest member, ignoring the minor burns he got from the flaming landscape.</p><p class="p1">Come on, he told himself, just a little bit closer and … oh no. He was too late. The chuchu had sprung forward to attack the kid.</p><p class="p1">The Captain closed his eyes in regret, expecting to hear sounds of pain coming from Four, instead, he heard giggling. Fucking giggling.</p><p class="p1">Opening his eyes, Wars saw their smith with his arms outstretched in front of his body and the chuchu resting in his gloved hands. Sliding the monster carefully onto one palm, Four used his free hand to stroke the top of the creature's head like one would a cat or dog. The chuchu for its part made a gurgling noise. Was it a happy noise, probably. Did Warriors care enough to find out? No. To him, all chuchu noises sounded like that time Wind assaulted Legend with a jellyfish, and the Veteran made a screech that was muffled behind a thick wall of jelly. He had most certainly not been involved with that at all and he had most certainly not bribed Wild into taking a picture for him.</p><p class="p1">Oh shit! He was spacing out again. Damn this heat!</p><p class="p1">Trying to get his scattered brain back to the matter at hand of Four and-</p><p class="p1">“Squishy!”</p><p class="p1">“I’m sorry, what?”</p><p class="p1">“Squishy!” Repeated Four. “It’s what I named him.” He held the monster out proudly for Warriors to see. One of Squishy’s eyes moved sideways to focus on a flaming boulder while the other stared directly into his soul.</p><p class="p1">“You know what? I’ve seen weirder and I’d rather get off this mountain as quickly as possible, so let’s go join the others.”</p><p class="p1">Putting a hand on Four’s shoulder, Warriors directed them back to the main group. Upon their arrival, they were met with several immediate responses.</p><p class="p1">“Are you both okay?” Time and Sky.</p><p class="p1">“Woah! That’s so cool!” Wind and Hyrule.</p><p class="p1">“Lucky,” Wild.</p><p class="p1">Too speechless with words, probably from shock. Twilight</p><p class="p1">Annnnd: “What the diddly-darn fuck did you asshats manage to do?” Legend. Gotta love the Vet and his way with words.</p><p class="p1">After filling the group in on Squishy, Four was allowed to keep him if he stayed at the back of the pack and let the chuchu follow him. Unfortunately for Wars, he was also at the back of the pack.</p><p class="p1">A wet slurping noise came from his feet and the Captain resisted the urge to drop-kick the stupid ball of mush into a volcano for the sake of Four. Actually, speaking of which, where did the kid go anyway? The Smithy was no longer at his right side. Looking over to the left, he was met with:</p><p class="p1">“Mushy!” This chuchu was identical to the one trying to climb Warriors’ boots, only it looked like it was trying to eat a rock. Disgusting.</p><p class="p1">Fighting his cringe, Warriors power-walked on ahead. He could deal with one chuchu, but <em>two</em>, yeah, not going to happen. He could hear hurried footsteps as Four tried to keep up with his much longer legs.</p><p class="p1">Warriors managed to stick with Sky for the majority of the trip before:</p><p class="p1">“Sweet Hylia. Are they supposed to get that big!?” The Skyloftian had paled considerably and the Captain followed his gaze to the giant chuchu that was larger than the small Hylian walking in front of it.</p><p class="p1">“Oh, you have got to be shitting me,” was the only thing that he could say. Surrounding Four were about fifteen or so flaming chuchus. He could only assume that Squishy and Mushy were among them, but they all looked the same except for the huge one in the back.</p><p class="p1">“I’m not seeing things from dehydration am I?” Asked Sky.</p><p class="p1">“If you are, then I am too and I’d like to think that we’re not having a shared hallucination.”</p><p class="p1">The Chosen Hero looked like he wanted to say more, but he was cut off by Twilight yelling from up ahead.</p><p class="p1">“Bokoblins! Mine and Wind’s!”</p><p class="p1">“I got this!” Cried a voice from behind the Captain. Pointing his sword at the incoming threats, the red gem on the end gleaming, the Smithy commanded his troops. “Charge!”</p><p class="p1">A surge of red chuchus slushed forward and targeted their foes. While they may not be particularly powerful monsters, the sheer amount of chuchus that Four had gathered was too much for the bokoblins. For every one that was killed, another was already there to take its place.</p><p class="p1">The battle was over almost as soon as it had started, none of them having to lift a sword. The remaining chuchus gathered back to their smith.</p><p class="p1">“Good job Slushy!” He praised one of them.</p><p class="p1">Walking forward hesitantly to take the monster loot, Wild absentmindedly said:</p><p class="p1">“We should fear the Chuchu King. His powers clearly far outnumber our own.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter was probably my favorite one to write yet. Let me know what you guys thought of it. All kudos and comments are loved and appreciated.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Vio and an old friend from work</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vio and Time get captured, unfortunately, their guard happens to recognize Vio from a previous adventure. Needless to say, he's not too happy about it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know that this chapter isn't as funny as the last one since it’s mostly dialogue, but out of all the Colors, Vio is the most serious. Oh well, only one more to go.<br/>(Some spoilers for the Four Swords manga, sort of, so if you haven't read it yet and plan on it, read at your own risk!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">A pounding headache made it difficult for Time to open is one good eye. The last thing that he could remember was fighting a camp of monsters with the boys. Oh, that’s right, he had forgotten about the Moblin that had clubbed him from behind. That must be the source of his headache.</p><p class="p1">Attempting to move his limbs, Time found that they were bound by thick ropes to a chair.</p><p class="p1">Great, just great.</p><p class="p1">He hadn’t planned on adding being kidnapped to his daily agenda, but it looked like he was stuck here now.</p><p class="p1">Time tried to move his hands to see if he could grab his sword, but found that it had been removed from his back, along with his bag and ocarina. Okay, no problem, he could still get out of this, it would just take longer than planned.</p><p class="p1">In his fumbling around, the Old Man managed to knock into something with his elbow. The thing gave a pained groan in response.</p><p class="p1">“Boys? Is that one of you?” Asked Time.</p><p class="p1">“Huh? The fuck am I?” Slurred the voice.</p><p class="p1">It sounded like Four.</p><p class="p1">“Four?”</p><p class="p1">“Wait, Time?” Four sounded more awake now. “What happened?”</p><p class="p1">“It looks like we were kidnapped by the monsters.”</p><p class="p1">“Great. Any idea where we are?”</p><p class="p1">Time gave the room that they were in its first real glance. It appeared to be some sort of abandoned dungeon with cracked stone walls and minimal lighting, none of it natural. There was nothing else in the room except for their things which were in a pile in the corner.</p><p class="p1">He could only see his and Four’s stuff, the respective blue and yellow handle and purple gem giving away their swords. He would have bet money that the Smithy’s sword had a different colored gem on the pommel, but between the lighting and his possible concussion, Time could be seeing things.</p><p class="p1">It didn’t look like any of the other boys’ things were in the pile, so Time figured that the rest had managed to get away.</p><p class="p1">“No idea,” He responded. “But it looks like some sort of temple or dungeon and-“</p><p class="p1">He could hear footsteps outside the door, loud and heavy.</p><p class="p1">“Someone’s coming!” Time hissed.</p><p class="p1">Right as he said it, the hulking form of a Hinox rounded the corner. It squinted its one eye at Time in a look of disgust, so the Old Man returned the gesture.</p><p class="p1">“Well, well, well, looks who’s finally awake,” Lumbering around to look at the other captured hero, the monster said, “It’s a shame that he’s still unconscious though. After all the pain that that little traitor brought us, he deserves to be punished in return. I’ll be back in soon and he better be awake by then, or else I’ll make him wake up.”</p><p class="p1">With that final threat, Time was left alone yet again with fake-sleeping Four and some very conflicting thoughts.</p><p class="p1">Did the Hinox call the Smithy a traitor? What was that supposed to mean? Had Four been evil at some point?</p><p class="p1">The Old Man was snapped back to reality by some rustling and Four’s face right in front of his own.</p><p class="p1">“Hey, Time,” He asked. “By any chance was that a Hinox with a scar right here?” The kid traced a line right over his left eyebrow.</p><p class="p1">The older hero forced his mind to focus on one thing and think about what he was being asked. Trying to recall the Hinox in the dimly lit room, the mention of a scar seemed right.</p><p class="p1">“I- I think so, but more importantly how did you manage to get out so quickly?”</p><p class="p1">Four gave a considerate hum and gave Time a smirk.</p><p class="p1">“I have a <em>little</em> trick up my sleeve, let me grab our things so we can leave this place.”</p><p class="p1">Hurrying over to the corner where their things were, the smith strapped his sword onto his back before dragging the Biggoron Sword and the rest of Time’s items over. The sight of the kid trying to carry a sword that was bigger than he was, was almost comical to see if they hadn’t been in such a tense situation.</p><p class="p1">“Okay, give me a minute, so I can cut you free.”</p><p class="p1">Putting down Time’s things, the Smithy brought the Four Sword to the ropes surrounding the Old Man’s torso and began to saw away at them, only for the sound of heavy footfalls to begin resonating outside the door.</p><p class="p1">“Shit!” Said Four, his eyes widening as the same Hinox from before re-entered the room.</p><p class="p1">“You!” It snarled. Lunging forward, the small hero was caught in one giant fist, his weapon clattering to the floor.</p><p class="p1">“Hey there Theron. Long time no see. What villain are you serving under these days? Is it Dark Link perhaps?”</p><p class="p1">“Quiet Vio! You know that even after all these years, the remaining Hinoxes still hate you after that stunt you tried to pull with the Dark Mirror.”</p><p class="p1">Four, Vio? gave a nonchalant shrug, well as best he could while still being trapped in the creature’s hand.</p><p class="p1">“That’s a name that I haven’t gone by in a long time. People these days usually call me Link or Four now.”</p><p class="p1">Theron looked confused now.</p><p class="p1">“But what about the others?”</p><p class="p1">“What others?”</p><p class="p1">“Your brothers you stupid traitor!”</p><p class="p1">“Are you feeling okay Theron?” Four’s voice was laced with concern that almost sounded genuine if it weren’t for the shit-eating grin on his face. “Or did you have too much to drink again? You know, I could always tell Dark Link about that nasty habit of yours next time we meet. I’m sure that he would be thrilled with his oh-so expendable minions.”</p><p class="p1">The kid raised an eyebrow and smirked at the Hinox.</p><p class="p1">“You little bastard! I ought to kill you right now!”</p><p class="p1">“But you won’t! I know that your master wants that honor all to himself. He’d be even angrier if you killed me yourself and I can assure you that after working with one power-hungry psycho, you and I both know that your death would be long and painful. So, how about it then? Still want to kill me?”</p><p class="p1">Theron snarled but released him by roughly throwing Four against a wall. The Smithy chuckled to himself as he brushed himself off.</p><p class="p1">“That’s better,” He said, picking up his sword, but not resheathing it. “If you let us go now, I’ll make it look like we had a fair fight and then escaped.”</p><p class="p1">By now, Time wasn’t sure whether or not to be scared or impressed with Four. The kid had made it clear that he had definitely worked for, who was his main villain again, Vaati? It didn’t really matter, Four had been evil at some point. It was hard to imagine the sweet hero who had only a couple of weeks ago wanted nothing more than to hang out with “cute” chuchus, as whatever he was now.</p><p class="p1">“You’ve never fought fairly in your life, Violet,” Sneered the Hinox.</p><p class="p1">“Fine,” Four, Violet, whatever his name was, rolled his eyes. “We can do this the hard way then.”</p><p class="p1">Time watched, still tied to his chair, as the smith artfully dodged Theron’s attacks and placed blows of his own. The kid led the Hinox around the room, before disappearing into his blindspot. It wasn’t too long after that before he felt a sharp blow to the back of his head and his eye rolled back.</p><p class="p1">His last conscious thought was: “Seriously, again?”, before he fell unconscious.</p><p class="p1">——</p><p class="p1">Time was once again awoken, his headache tripled in pain.</p><p class="p1">“Hey, Old Man, how are you feeling?”</p><p class="p1">He focused on Four who was shaking him gently, no doubt to try and wake him.</p><p class="p1">“I feel like shit,” He answered bluntly. “What happened back there?”</p><p class="p1">“You got hit on the head by the Hinox when he came in to check on us, then you started saying all of these loopy things about me working for Vaati and started calling me Vio. As if that would ever happen!” Four gave Time a smile before it morphed into something more serious. “You definitely have a concussion with how much you’ve been rambling. Come on, let’s go find the others so we can have Hyrule check you out.”</p><p class="p1">Helping Time to his feet, the Smithy supported the older hero as best he could as they stumbled into the woods, having gotten outside the dungeon somehow.</p><p class="p1">“Hey, Four,”</p><p class="p1">"Yeah,"</p><p class="p1">“How did we get out here?”</p><p class="p1">“I dragged you.”</p><p class="p1">“You did what?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah, Theron is just a Hinox that I made up for the story, but he's based on the ones from the Four Swords Manga which is where Vio's whole story came from.</p><p>Like always, I loved reading all of the comments from the last chapter, they make me so happy knowing that you guys like it so far! 😊</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Four is finally outed as the gremlin he is</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Chain arrives back in Four's Hyrule. Some major secrets are about to be revealed.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The finale to this piece is finally here! I hope you all like it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">The latest portal had brought the group back to Four’s Hyrule. Wild himself had been hoping for his own, but honestly, weren’t they all? The Smithy seemed happy to be out of Twilight’s time. To be fair, he and Time had been kidnapped by monsters, so that did lead to a rather terrible night of searching before finding them stumbling around the woods like drunkards.</p><p class="p1">“Hey, I’ll meet you guys at the town center later, I need to catch up with this lady for a bit,” Four pointed to one of the many vendors that lined the streets in his Castletown. “You can go on without me, stock up on supplies.”</p><p class="p1">“Okay,” Time shrugged. “This is your Hyrule and we’re in town, so you should be fine.”</p><p class="p1">Four waved goodbye to the group and hurried over to the vendor.</p><p class="p1">“We should split up and get supplies faster,” Suggested Warriors. “I can go with Wild to get more food, Time and Hyrule can get medical supplies, Wind, you and Sky can find some more potions. That leaves you two on all the weird stuff that we always say we should have, but never do.”</p><p class="p1">Warriors pointed at their resident hoarder and rancher.</p><p class="p1">“Does that mean that I can just buy whatever I want?” Legend asked.</p><p class="p1">“No,” Protested Twi. “That’s why I’m going with you.”</p><p class="p1">He put a hand on his shoulder and began leading Legend through the crowd.</p><p class="p1">“You’re no fun, even Time lets me get away with more stuff.”</p><p class="p1">That was the last thing that Wild heard from them before he and Warriors were off on their own mission to stock up on more food for his slate.</p><p class="p1">“Does that vendor have meat on their table?”</p><p class="p1">Wild looked to the mentioned stall and nodded.</p><p class="p1">“It looks the kind that I’ll be able to make meat skewers with too.”</p><p class="p1">As the duo made their way through the crowd, Wild was grateful for how Wars subtly pushed people away from the amnesiac to give him more space. It wasn’t that the amnesiac wasn’t a people person, it was just that his Hyrule never had this many people in one place at a time, and it stressed him out.</p><p class="p1">When they got to the vendor, Wild immediately began browsing their wares, while the Captain struck up small talk with the man running the booth.</p><p class="p1">At one point he heard: “Ugh, you can’t be serious.”</p><p class="p1">“Um, what’s the problem?” Asked Warriors.</p><p class="p1">Wild stopped browsing and brought his selected food over to the two men.</p><p class="p1">“I thought that those damn heroes were supposed to be color coordinated. Now how am I supposed to tell which one he is?”</p><p class="p1">Wild and Wars followed the vendor’s gaze to the stall where Four was currently chatting in all his multicolored glory. They quickly looked back at each other. The man wasn’t talking about the smith, right?</p><p class="p1">“Pardon me for asking,” Said the Captain quickly, “but did you say heroes, as in plural?”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah, buddy. We’ve had four of those Links running around since the second time that Princess Zelda was kidnapped. Have you been living under a rock for a couple of years?”</p><p class="p1">A dark expression crossed over the Captain's face and he opened his mouth to say something back.</p><p class="p1">“We’re going to buy these now, thanks!” Wild cut in before Warriors could get into an argument with the man. He might have been rude, but they didn’t need to attract any attention to themselves.</p><p class="p1">Slamming probably way more rupees than he needed onto the table, Wild threw the meat into his slate and dragged the taller man away.</p><p class="p1">“We need to go talk to Four,” was all that he said.</p><p class="p1">——</p><p class="p1">After hearing that they were supposed to go get more potions, Sky and Wind split up from the others to find the correct stall.</p><p class="p1">“That looks like a potion bottle, right?</p><p class="p1">Wind gestured to a large sign above a storefront that was indeed shaped like a glass bottle and painted to have blue liquid inside.</p><p class="p1">“Is a remlit a literal demon?”</p><p class="p1">“Uhhh…”</p><p class="p1">“The correct answer is yes Wind. Come on.”</p><p class="p1">As they cut through the crowd, Sky could have sworn he heard the pirate mumble:</p><p class="p1">“Then what are the cute cat things called?”</p><p class="p1">The transaction at the potion shop was quick. The two heroes just did their usual and bought out most of the poor lady’s stock. The vendor for her part looked very concerned as to why they needed so many elixirs, especially when Wind plopped twenty fireproof potions onto the front desk.</p><p class="p1">That trip to Death Mountain had been rough.</p><p class="p1">On the way out, Sky was almost bowled over by a child wearing a floppy blue hat that kept falling into his eyes and a stick. It was funny how the hat looked so similar to Sky’s own from his quest, just the wrong color of course.</p><p class="p1">“Sorry, mister!” Said the kid. “But we have some pirates to catch!”</p><p class="p1">A couple of kids, also wielding sticks, but without the hats, came running around a corner. They were being chased by another two kids, wearing purple and red hats respectively, just as ill-fitting as the blue one.</p><p class="p1">“You’ve fallen right into our trap evildoers!” Cried the kid in blue. “We’ve cornered you now!”</p><p class="p1">Sky covered his smile as the children used their sticks in the worst sword duel he had ever seen.</p><p class="p1">In the end though, the evil ‘pirates’ were defeated by the hat-wearing trio.</p><p class="p1">Noticing Sky and Wind watching from the side, the child in red asked: “Do you want to play with us? We don’t have a green hat because <em>someone</em>,” She looked directly at her friend pretending to be a pirate. “Lost it, but you two can be bad guys if you want!”</p><p class="p1">“Well Sky, that shouldn’t be a problem for us,” Said Wind, already putting on an eyepatch from his pack.</p><p class="p1">The older hero rolled his eyes, but he was smiling the entire time.</p><p class="p1">“It’s a good thing that I brought my own then,” He told the kids, pulling his old hat out of his bag and putting it on his head. He hated the feel of the fabric, but it made the kids squeal with joy, so it was all worth it.</p><p class="p1">The Skyloftian and Sailor played for a while. Wind would “try” to fight back the kids before letting them disarm him of his stick. On the opposite side of things, Sky was “letting” the pretend pirates outrun him before the other kids in hats would catch them.</p><p class="p1">It wasn’t really his fault that kids had too much energy for him to keep up with his limited stamina, was it?</p><p class="p1">“Timmy, Amy! Time to go!” Yelled a parent from the crowd. Two of the kids groaned but left to go home.</p><p class="p1">“We should probably go now too,” Wind told the remaining children.</p><p class="p1">“But you made such a good hero and pirate!”</p><p class="p1">“Sorry kiddo,” Sky said chuckling. Oh, if only they knew how true that was.</p><p class="p1">He and Wind put away their costumes and began making their way back to the town square.</p><p class="p1">“Did you think that it was odd that there were four heroes?” Asked Wind.</p><p class="p1">“I didn't really think about it, but now that you mention it, that is rather odd. We should go ask Four about it.”</p><p class="p1">——</p><p class="p1">“Can you please stop trying to buy everything you see?” Pleaded Twilight. The poor Ordonian’s time with him was causing the man to go gray before the Veteran’s very eyes.</p><p class="p1">“That’s a rhetorical question right?” Responded Legend.</p><p class="p1">“No, no it wasn’t. I’m telling you to stop buying useless crap that we’ll never use!”</p><p class="p1">“How dare you! Are you trying to say that we’ll never use the sweater with a picture of Tingle sewn onto it?”</p><p class="p1">Legend stopped for a second to pull that exact item out of the bag of assorted things that he was carrying.</p><p class="p1">“When did you even buy that?” Asked the rancher horrified.</p><p class="p1">“While you were busy finding soap and a new journal for Wars. Also, I plan on giving this to Time for his birthday.”</p><p class="p1">“First of all that sounds like a terrible idea and secondly, do any of us even know when the Old Man’s birthday is?”</p><p class="p1">“That does put a damper on my plans. Hmmm,” He put a hand to his chin in thought. “New plan, I’ll give it to him the next time we visit Malon as a welcome home gift. What do you think?”</p><p class="p1">“I think that you’re asking for the middle watch every night for a month.”</p><p class="p1">“It’ll be worth it though. What do you thi-“</p><p class="p1">He was cut off by someone tapping him on the shoulder. Stuffing the cursed sweater back into his bag, Legend spun with eyebrows raised at the person who dared to interrupt his fantastic conversation with Twilight.</p><p class="p1">“I couldn’t help but notice that sword that you have there and I was wondering where you got it from. I myself like to have the best of the best for weapons and I was wondering if I could buy it off of you perhaps.”</p><p class="p1">Legend shot an evil looking smirk at Twi, who for his part only sighed and made a pained expression, before spinning back to the man who was anxiously awaiting an answer.</p><p class="p1">“Oh, this old thing?” Said the Hoarder innocently. He unsheathed the Tempered Sword, it’s orangey coating making it look like it was glowing in the sunlight. “I forged it myself using the tried and true secrets of nunya.”</p><p class="p1">“What’s nunya?”</p><p class="p1">“Please don’t do it.” He heard Twilight say from behind him, but there was a defeated tone to his voice. The rancher already knew what Legend intended on doing.</p><p class="p1">“Nunya business!” Crowed the Veteran happily, but for Twi’s sake, he didn’t laugh at his own joke. “Sorry, buddy. This here isn’t for sale and it’s a one of a kind.”</p><p class="p1">With the skill of someone who has been on six quests, he easily re-sheathed his sword without looking.</p><p class="p1">“You’re just as bad as those stupid heroes!” The man said angrily, stamping his foot like he was some sort of child. “I tried to buy those fancy swords that they always carry around, but they told me no too. They’re all blacksmiths anyway. They could always just make a new and sell me the original.”</p><p class="p1">“Original what?” Asked Twilight, but they already knew the answer.</p><p class="p1">“The Four Sword, of course, only the best blade in the entire kingdom!”</p><p class="p1">“We need to go actually, like right now,” The rancher yanked on the back of Legend’s collar, a tactic that had been used numerous times on Wild to get him moving quickly, but never on himself.</p><p class="p1">“What was that for?” He hissed.</p><p class="p1">“Four owes us some answers.”</p><p class="p1">“You really trust that random creep?”</p><p class="p1">“No, but there’s definitely something going on with our Smithy. I could have sworn that he has a color-changing sword, which would be really weird, but I think that I might not be imagining things.”</p><p class="p1">——</p><p class="p1">Time and Hyrule were the last to leave. Hyrule didn’t want Time doing anything too quickly since he still wasn’t sure if there were any side effects to his concussion. Even with his magic and some potions, the Old Man had managed to get one of the nastiest head injuries that the medic had ever seen.</p><p class="p1">But still, going at their slower than normal pace, Hyrule and Time still managed to find and buy some herbs that could be used as pain relievers, some bandages, and red potions. (It was always good to have extras, even if Sky and Wind bought some too.)</p><p class="p1">All they had left to do was get some allergy medicine. You could never be sure when Wild was going to eat something that should definitely not be eaten. Granted, Hyrule was just as bad, but at least he had healing magic that the Champion did not possess.</p><p class="p1">“Hey! Good sirs! Want to come check out my wares?”</p><p class="p1">Hyrule found the source of the voice, an old woman at one of the many stalls waving them over.</p><p class="p1">Out of curiosity, the traveler made his way over and Time followed, probably so that he didn’t get lost. (You lose track of where you are a couple of times a week and suddenly you need a travel buddy that isn’t Wild.)</p><p class="p1">On the lady’s front table were several items, all of which were easily ripoffs of whatever the actual item was. The “firerod” was very clearly a piece of metal with a rock painted red stuck to the end.</p><p class="p1">Hyrule looked over at Time who voiced exactly what he was thinking.</p><p class="p1">“I’m sorry ma’am, but do happen to have anything of a higher quality here?”</p><p class="p1">“Are these not good enough for you?” She snapped.</p><p class="p1">“Uh, no we’re just um looking for some uh... rare items.” Nailed it!</p><p class="p1">“We were just curious if you had something that you wouldn’t display upfront that could be worth some rupees.” Time said, quickly rolling with his suggestion.</p><p class="p1">“Hmmmmm”. She thought it over for a second before going to a chest in the back.</p><p class="p1">“I do have a few things,” The lady told them.</p><p class="p1">Out of it, she took a shield, a green cap, and a bow.</p><p class="p1">“The shield belonged to Blue, the hat was obviously Green’s,” It reminded Hyrule of his own, if a child had stitched it together that is, “and the bow belonged to our kingdom’s best archer.”</p><p class="p1">“Who might that be?” He asked politely.</p><p class="p1">“Why Vio of course!”</p><p class="p1">It was like a lightbulb had gone off in Time’s head.</p><p class="p1">“Are those three brothers?” He forcefully asked.</p><p class="p1">“Well, yes, sort of, but-“</p><p class="p1">“That lying bastard!”</p><p class="p1">Grabbing Hyrule, Time angrily marched them back in the direction that they had started.</p><p class="p1">“Aren’t you going to buy anything!” Screeched the old lady.</p><p class="p1">“Uh, no sorry!” The traveler called after them. Turning to the older man, he asked: “I’m assuming that we’re not getting the medicine anymore?”</p><p class="p1">“Nope, <em>Four</em>,” He spat out the name of their teammate, “Is going to explain exactly why he clubbed me in the back of the head.”</p><p class="p1">“O-okay.”</p><p class="p1">Dear Hylia what the frick had happened.</p><p class="p1">——</p><p class="p1">Vio had finished talking with Pita some time ago and had made his way back to the forge.</p><p class="p1">“I’m back!” He called to his brothers.</p><p class="p1">The sounds from the back of the forge quickly ceased and three identical faces came running from the back room.</p><p class="p1">“Vio!” Cheered Red.</p><p class="p1">“We missed you Nerd,” Blue added on making Vio roll his eyes, but before he could retaliate, the front door of the forge slammed open and Warriors and Wild barged in. Wild looked like someone had told him that the sky was actually green and proved it, while Wars looked like he just caught Wind trying to steal cookies again.</p><p class="p1">“The man was right! There are four of you!”</p><p class="p1">Well, shit.</p><p class="p1">“Okay, look we can explain this.” Began Green, only for Twilight and Legend to come in right after.</p><p class="p1">“I fucking called it!” Cheered the rancher. He seemed to have the exact opposite reaction to Warriors.</p><p class="p1">“Uh, what?” Asked Blue rather dumbly in Vio’s opinion.</p><p class="p1">Just then, even more teammates came strolling in through the front door. This time it was Wind and Sky.</p><p class="p1">“I guess that answers the hat question then,” Wind said cryptically and then gestured to Vio. “You must really be Purple then.”</p><p class="p1">He bristled at that. It had taken him far too many years to get people to stop calling him that.</p><p class="p1">“My name isn’t Purple. My name is-“</p><p class="p1">“Vio!” Yelled an incredibly pissed off Time. The man deposited Hyrule with the other heroes before leveling him with the most terrifying glare that he had ever seen. If looks could kill then Vio would be a very dead man.</p><p class="p1">“You mind explaining why you knocked me out and then tried to act like I was hallucinating everything!”</p><p class="p1">“Again Vio?” Said Red disappointedly.</p><p class="p1">“Again!?”</p><p class="p1">“Would you believe I have a bad habit of knocking family out for my own plans to succeed?”</p><p class="p1">Green gave him a well deserved middle finger.</p><p class="p1">Turning to the rest of the group, his brother told them: “Hi, we’re Four. I’m Green, the food bandit, Red’s the newly titled ‘Chuchu King’, Blue’s the one who tried to fight a god, and I can only imagine what Vio did to anger Time so much.”</p><p class="p1">"Too much." Said Time quietly.</p><p class="p1">The room went dead silent for a solid thirty seconds before Wind finally said:</p><p class="p1">“This actually explains so much and also absolutely nothing at all.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Let me know if you liked it. Also, do people want a bonus chapter with Shadow? Let me know with a comment if you do.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Say! What a lot Links there are</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thanks to all the wonderful comments from the last chapter, I have learned two things:<br/>1. I can apparently write crack that stays in character and<br/>2. People really wanted to see one (1) shady lad, so here you go the bonus chapter with Shadow!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I actually looked at the poem for the first time in years and it made me laugh because this:<br/>"Say! What a lot of Links there are.<br/>Yes. Some are red, some are blue.<br/>Some are old and some are new.<br/>Some are sad, and some are glad,<br/>And some are very, very bad."<br/>Basically sums up Four in a nutshell.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a full week spent in the Color’s Hyrule and a full week since the whole Four Debacle. The Old Man had finally gotten over his issues with Vio and the Colors had told them the whole story behind why there were four of them and why they had only sent one at a time.<br/>However, the Links were due for another portal any time now and Green still stuck by their original plan.<br/>“The only way we could go with them now would be if we merged or went as an entire group and I don’t know about you three, but I’d rather not do either,” He told his brothers when all of the others had gone to sleep. They were currently staying at the castle because their small forge didn’t have enough room for twelve people to stay.<br/>“We could try fighting the portals again!” Suggested Blue.<br/>“Oh really? And how’d that work out for you?” Taunted Vio.<br/>“Quite well actually and I suppose that you have a better plan oh smart one.”<br/>“Naturally. I do have Four’s only brain cell after all.”<br/>“That was harsh Vio.”<br/>“But you’re not disagreeing Green.”<br/>The room went silent after that as three pairs of eyes stared at their purple brother.<br/>“What are you all looking at me like that for?”<br/>“Your plan?” Prompted Red.<br/>“Oh, right. Well then, what if we got a friend to fill in for us like we had done with each other.”<br/>“That could work, but only Links can go through the portals.”<br/>“Who said that we were the only Links in our time period? I’m talking about our friend who’s currently stuck in the Dark World.”<br/>“Oh no! Not him!” Groaned Blue.<br/>“Oh yes!” Counted Vio.<br/>“Wait! I don’t have a problem with it, but why don’t we see what Green wants, he is out leader after all,” Cut in Red before the bickering could turn into a full-on shouting match.<br/>All eyes turned to him and Blue and Vio immediately shut up, waiting for his answer.<br/>“Well,” He started. “I think that we owe Shadow a visit anyway, why not figure out how to get him to cross over while we’re at it.”<br/>Needless to say, Green was instantly Blue’s least favorite brother that night.<br/>——<br/>The plan was enacted later the next night once they were sure that everyone was asleep.<br/>Blue had gone through the sleeping Veteran’s bag and swiped some moon pearls.<br/>Red had made sure to sneak some herbs into Wild’s pot when he made tea for everyone that night, ensuring that everyone slept well.<br/>Green used his status as Dot’s knight to keep any curious guards away from the room where they would be conducting the spell.<br/>And Vio set everything up, carefully making sure that every piece of the Dark Mirror was intact and in its proper place.<br/>Shadow for his part was signing a mile a minute on the other side of the glass. No sound could travel between the two worlds, but that didn’t stop them from figuring out a way to communicate. The shade’s appearance had changed over the years to look like Four’s, the only noticeable exception being his color palette. The purple hair and red eyes definitely made him unique.<br/>The ceremony itself went fine. The Colors had expected there to be some sort of flashy light show or for some of the magic to be dangerous, but the only thing that happened was that one second,  Shadow was on one side of the mirror and on the other the next.<br/>All of the Links stood there trying to process that it was already over, even Vio who had conducted the spell.<br/>“That was it?” Asked Green in confusion before getting tackled in a group hug by Red and Shadow.<br/>The next few minutes were a mix of emotions. There was crying and laughing and teasing and more all at once. Over the years, the five boys had been able to talk with each other, but never before had then able to be physically in the same room or for Shadow to be able to hear their voices. Even Blue was happy to see him, even if the grumpy hero pretended not to.<br/>“I missed y’all so much!” The shade cried happily. “You can only order monsters around in the Dark World some much before it gets boring. I needed some prank buddies!”<br/>“Do I have the perfect idea for you then,” Smirked Vio from his tangle of limbs in their pile.<br/>——<br/>That morning, the group was met with an interesting sight. Four sat on a table in the other room polishing his sword. He looked just like all of the Colors did separately, but he was once again wearing the multicolored tunic and the gem on the end of his sword wasn’t any one color, but rather a blend of all four.<br/>“Um, Four? You are actually Four now right?” Asked Twilight.<br/>The hero hopped down from where he was sitting and sketched them a small bow. Heh, Hyrule was getting good with these pun things. Legend had explained what they were to him after he made one too many by accident and the Veteran almost lost his mind.<br/>“The real Hero of Men, Minish, Light, the Four Sword, and about a bajillion other things at your service.”<br/>“Why did you all turn back into one Link?” Asked Wild.<br/>“It’s easier for travel purposes if we’re all going together and also,” The smith pointed to a swirling black void in the corner of the room, “Our ride’s here.”<br/>Caught up in the bizarre shock of seeing only one Four, Hyrule had completely missed the portal, and apparently, everyone else did too.<br/>“Well then, everyone stick with your travel buddies and we’ll leave.”<br/>After some shuffling around, the heroes all left through the portal to whatever Hyrule either Hylia or Dark Link decided was next. Unknown to them all except for one imposter Smithy, there were four small gremlins hiding in the shadows. Growing back to full size, the brothers gave each other all high-fives.<br/>“This was our best plan yet!” Congratulated Red.<br/>“Time is going to lose his fucking mind when he finds out what we’ve done now,” Added Vio with a concerningly evil laugh.<br/>“What do you have against Time?”<br/>“He took away my 3 am reading rights.”<br/>——<br/>Things had smoothly for the Links since their last switch. Four was a bit more chaotic than they remembered any of his selves being, but Wind supposed that if you squished that much personality into one body, then it was bound to make an excitable person.<br/>But, since they were Links and it was in their nature to have bad luck, of course, they had just been trapped in a canyon by a rockslide.<br/>“We could try hookshotting our way out,” Suggested Twilight.<br/>“The ways are too high and besides, not everyone has one,” Countered Warriors.<br/>“How about I use stasis on the rocks and then explosives?” Asked Wild with a VERY dangerous gleam in his eyes.<br/>“NO!” Shouted about three people at once.<br/>“You guys are just cowards,” Muttered the cook with a pout.<br/>“It’s fine y’all, I can handle this by myself,” Said a voice from the back of their group. Wind could tell from the word choice alone that it had to be Four. No one else besides Twilight actually said “y’all”.<br/>The Smithy pushed his way through the group and stood in front of the antagonizing mound of rock. He held one arm out from his body with the palm of his hand facing the rubble.<br/>“What is he doing?” Whispered Hyrule. Wind could only shrug in response, but they got their answer a moment later when Four yelled “BOOM!” at the top of his lungs and a huge blast of purple and black magic soared from him into the rock. Upon impact, they were all blinded by the resulting dust, but when it cleared there stood one very proud and no more boulders.<br/>“Problem solved,” He told them.<br/>“Um, you mind telling us what the fuck that was all about?” Demanded Legend.<br/>“What the magic? You remember how I told y’all that the Four Sword was forged with the elements, right?” There were various nods and vague shrugs of confusion. “Well because of that, Four, who is me, can do magic and weird shit when he’s altogether as one mostly functioning person.”<br/>“You didn’t want to mention that particular trait of yours earlier?”<br/>“It wasn’t relevant then.”<br/>“That was dark magic. How’d you do that?” Hyrule asked quietly with his eyebrows furrowed.<br/>“Spite” was the only answer that they got.<br/>——<br/>Some days later, the boys had set up camp for the night. Everyone was off doing their own thing. Time and Wind were telling each other stories, each hero trying to outdo the other. Listening in, Warriors could hear Time say:<br/>“Did I ever tell you about the time that I fought the moon?”<br/>And then Wind counter back with:<br/>“Not that one again! I might as well tell you that I like to go dimension-hopping with Tetra in my free time. At least try to make these sound believable Old Man!”<br/>Give it a year or two and Wind would be eating his words. Warriors knew for a fact that both statements were very true, whether they were meant to be to not.<br/>On the other side of camp, Wild was trying to teach Hyrule how to cook. Cook was a very generous word to use because it just looked like everything was on fire.<br/>Sky had gone to sleep early, Legend was sewing a rip in his hat, and Twilight was taking care of Epona.<br/>That just left the Smithy.<br/>He looked over and saw Four reading a book. Upon closer inspection, the book was also upside-down.<br/>“Hey Four, is Vio in control right now?”<br/>“Yep, can’t you tell by me reading this uh… boondoggle.”<br/>“I don’t know what that means, but the book is upside-down.”<br/>“Well yeah, I’m just that smart. I don’t need to waste brain cells trying to read like a normal person.”<br/>Warriors rolled his eyes but left Four alone. He had his own stories to go tell anyway.<br/>——<br/>Shadow breathed a sigh of relief once the Captain left and put the random book down. Glancing at the cover, it read A History of Subaquatic Plants, which definitely sounded like something that Vio would read. Also, using big words was hard, but he was glad that he had actually listened to Vio when he was explaining what he was reading, so he could at least sound passably like the purple hero. Giving the book one last look he wondered, which one of these weirdos actually packed that? <br/>Didn’t matter, back to his real plan.<br/>Grinning like the villain he was, he made sure that none of the Links were looking before he melted into the shadows and reappeared a few feet behind Legend where the man’s bag was stashed. Snatching the Veteran’s things like the ninja he was, he then did the same thing as his entrance back to his log.<br/>Throughout the course of the night, Shadow made sure to slip various items into people’s bags, bedrolls, and even onto their person if he was feeling sneaky enough. He even made sure to keep a few things for himself before putting Legend’s bag back in its place.<br/>Sometime later, the Hoarder went to put his sewing kit back after fixing his hat to find his bag suspiciously less full than usual.<br/>“Which one of you assholes took all of my things?” He demanded.<br/>All activities around camp ceased as people began to look for Legend’s things. Shadow smirked when the first was found under one of Wild’s pots.<br/>“How did that…”<br/>“Really, Champion?”<br/>Legend snatched his medallion back from the cook and then that was when complete chaos broke out.<br/>“Hey Leg, I found an extra pair of boots in my bedroll!”<br/>“There’s a fire rod wrapped within my blanket!”<br/>“Someone put a… a whatever the fuck this violin on steroids is in my bag!” That one came from Wind as he struggled to pull the instrument that was larger than he was out of his bag. Twilight quickly rushed over to help. Now was Shadow’s cue.<br/>“What the hell? Who put a shovel in with my things?” He brandished the said item from his own bag from where he had put it earlier. For some reason, the Veteran had an ungodly amount of these with him. They clearly called him the Hoarder for a reason. “Who did this?” Shadow continued. On the outside, he was the perfect picture of confusion, but on the inside, he was cackling like a madman.<br/>It took all eight of them (because Sky was still sleeping) to find the rest of Legend’s things with Shadow helping only when necessary so that he didn’t look too suspicious.<br/>Finally: “Is that everything Vet?”<br/>“Yeah, I’m just missing some moon pearls and one of my keys.”<br/>Shadow grinned. He knew exactly what had happened to those moon pearls, as for the key, he glanced at where Hyrule had gone back to talking with Wild. If you looked very carefully, a glint of gold could be seen coming from his floof of hair in the firelight. It was probably his best spot and he congratulated himself on his brilliant thinking.<br/>——<br/>On yet another afternoon in the day of the Links, the boys were all staying at an inn in the first town that they found. There had been an increase in monster sightings in the area, but that wasn’t the biggest news that Wild and Four had come back to.<br/>Somehow, the Veteran had managed to turn his hair bright pink. Well, it had already been pink before, but now ALL of it was that color.<br/>Immediately upon seeing him, Wild and Four burst into laughter. Which prompted the rest of the camp to start snickering and based on Legend’s reaction that must have been what they had been doing before he and the Smithy showed up.<br/>Speaking of the smith:<br/>“Hey Vet, we match!” The kid pointed to his hair which was now also the exact same color. “Hi, I’m Legend and I refuse to wear pants. Also, I have more completed adventures, collected shit, and hatred for the Goddesses, other people, and myself then you fuckers will ever dream of having!” <br/>Wind started wheezing and fell off the bed. Even Time was smiling when he chastised Four for his language.<br/>“Haha, very funny!” Grouched Legend. “You forgot to add in the crippling depression and then you would have nailed it.”<br/>“Aw, Leg,” Cooed Hyrule as he gave their saltiest member a hug.<br/>Once everyone had gotten their laughter back under control, Time asked: “How did you do that with your hair?”<br/>Four, still sporting pink hair, grinned and snapped his fingers. His hair instantly turned purple, when he opened his eyes, they were red, and his grin now had little fangs poking out.<br/>“My old look was getting too boring anyway?” He said with a shrug.<br/>“Sweet Hylia! It’s a dark!” Cried Warriors while pointing at Four.<br/>Four for his part spun around dramatically and looked behind himself.<br/>“Where!?” He gasped. Spotting a small potted plant, he gasped again. “That sneaky dark! They’re getting more clever with their hiding places.”<br/>That didn’t stop Wars from drawing his sword pointing the tip at the purple-haired kid. The only reaction that they got out of him though was an eye roll before he crossed his arms and disappeared entirely.<br/>By now, some more of the Links, mainly Time, Legend, and Hyrule had drawn their swords and were scanning the room for Four? to show himself. Wild didn’t really know what the whole deal with darks was, then again he didn’t have one of his own.<br/>Four appeared in the middle of the room with a bottle in hand.<br/>“You know what this is?” He said. Wild nodded. It was the remnants of the truth potion that he and Hyrule had accidentally made when trying to teach him how to make elixirs. “Great!” The smith popped the cork and downed the bottle in one swig. After swallowing, he said:<br/>“I am not a Dark Link,” there were relieved sighs all around the room as weapons were put away. “However,” the kid continued, “My name is actually Shadow and I am Four’s Shadow Link.”<br/>Wild could only watch the ensuing chaos that resulted in Shadow floating in the middle of it all and cackling.<br/>“This is so much better than the time that I hid all of the Vet’s things!”<br/>“That was you!”<br/>“Ah, the damn truth potion.”<br/>——<br/>Blue jumped and dropped all of his cards when the door was slammed open by none other than the princess herself.<br/>“I don’t know what you four did this time, but I need you in the throne room immediately.”<br/>The Colors all shared a glance, different levels of terror in their expressions. <br/>“That is the shittiest hand I have ever seen,” Commented Vio when he saw his brother’s cards. Blue made a mental note to kill the bookworm in their next game of Monopoly. Guess who he would make some trades with, certainly not Violet. <br/>Wordlessly following Dot, they were met with the sight of all of the Links and a Shadow, who was clearly not even trying to look like them anymore, being held by the collar of his tunic in typical Twilight fashion.<br/>“How many of you damn Fours are there?” Time lamented putting his face in his hands. “First there was one of you, or so we thought. Then there were four of you which kind of made sense. Now there’s five of you and one is actually a Dark Link.”<br/>“Shadow actually, and would now be a bad time to mention our clone from an alternate timeline that we nicknamed Navy and likes trains?”<br/>“I have several questions, as usual whenever one of you mentions your family or just does something in general, but most importantly, what’s a train?” Asked Sky.<br/>“A land boat that runs on fire and goes very fast.” Answered Shadow.<br/>Almost immediately, the five Colors were surrounded by Wild and Wind.<br/>“Take us to Navy!” They cried in unison.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Navy is just the Spirit Tracks Link. I know that he’s technically Wind, but since Four is also a “toon”, I was like ah yes, the mysterious extra hero who also happens to be named Link and may or may not be another version of our favorite Smithy.</p><p>Also, in case you were curious when Shadow calls the book that he’s reading a boondoggle, the word means “ a work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value” and I just thought that it was the perfect word for that situation (even though I probably didn’t use it right because I found it after a three-second Google search).</p><p>Lastly, these are probably the longest end notes that I’ve written, so thanks if you actually read through them and I hope that I did Shadow some justice.</p>
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